


Big Men, Blonde Girls and Tiny Gestures

by nonky



Category: Longmire (TV)
Genre: F/M, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 20:45:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9843017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonky/pseuds/nonky
Summary: When she had the baby, Walt was the last person to visit them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A short speculative future fic, though I don't really expect to see anything like this on the show. General spoilers for Season five.

Vic had convinced herself she wasn't going to get a visit from Walt, at least not during her two days in the hospital to have the baby. 

She'd had a long phone call with her mom - complete with the required awkward handoff to Vic Senior in which they mostly talked about how much safer cribs had become. She'd visited almost successfully with Travis' mother, and only been cautioned once for her refusal to get married to make the baby 'legitimate.' She hadn't lost her temper.

Cady had shown up to coo over the baby, bringing a very soft woven blanket with her, and a take-out breakfast for Vic. Despite the lack of coffee for the new mother, it had been nice to see her old roommate. Vic had thought she should try to see Cady more often when it wasn't a crisis or a special occasion. 

Ruby made a quick visit, gave her a hug and a beautiful little sundress that would fit the baby by the time it was warm enough to sit outside. 

Ferg had brought his girlfriend, and Vic thought she might be attending a wedding there soon enough. He'd marveled at how small the baby was, and Vic had assured him the birth was all the evidence she needed to give that the baby was at least average size, if not a bit large. He'd blushed like a fire engine, and she'd gotten a little emotional. After all the changes, seeing him get embarrassed easily was a nice familiar moment. 

Even Sean had called to wish her well, his voice a little hurt but his kindness genuine. The nurses and doctors who were used to seeing her with black eyes and concussions had knocked on the open door and come in to see her under happier circumstances. 

Travis had been there the whole two days, as good as his word to help her back when she wasn't even sure she'd be having the baby. Vic cared about him, and he was sorting out his life. They were the terror of the trailer park when he annoyed her, but he was learning pretty fast when to keep fighting and when he was just getting her annoyed. He was walking the floor with their daughter, making up a lullaby from fragments of real songs. 

"Buy you a mockingbird, and rock-a-bye baby, cradle and all," he sang, in a decent voice filled with love.

She was working very hard to be careful with his feelings. He proposed a couple of times and she had tried to explain how the whole thing with Ed Gorski had led to marrying Sean hastily and then divorcing him when things with Walt got complicated. Vic had sworn him to secrecy, and Travis seemed to get why she wasn't going to marry again unless it was because she really wanted to make those kinds of promises. 

She was glad Travis had been strong enough to push for his place in her life. She had needed him, and the baby would need him more. They might even end up being a couple, but the depth of feelings was too shallow for vows. Raising a child together felt like it was serious enough. 

“Little star, shining like a brand new car," Travis was singing softly. He looked to the doorway. "Oh. H-hey Walt."

His nerves around the Sheriff approached her own feelings, and Travis was quick to cross to the bed and hand her a nearly asleep baby. Vic smiled as she sat up, aware of her dark circles and the lingering awkwardness of her body. She held her daughter proudly, and cuddled her close for support. Travis was already grabbing his jacket.

"Am I interrupting," Walt asked, his face a little too neutral to not be hiding some awkwardness for him, as well. He had his hat down by his side, and dust on his boots like he'd decided to go to the hospital right after a long ride. He looked good. It was the first time she'd seen him in a few months.

"No, we're both a little stir-crazy at this point," Vic told him. "Come in."

The cowboy walked slowly into the room, as if he was worried what he'd see once he got closer. Travis inched past him, and waved from the doorway. 

"Vic, I'm going to run home for a few minutes," he said. "Call me if you need me to come back, but I told Mom I'd look at her dishwasher. It's making that noise again."

"Okay."

Walt was looking at her carefully, and Vic let the smile drop to a pleasant expression. She didn't know if it would last, but safely in a building full of medical professionals she was a very mellow mother. Of course, that might just the last lingering effects of the drugs from the birth. 

"Have a seat, Walt," she invited. "I promise I'm decent."

He approached her bed like a trap, and Vic nearly rolled her eyes. She was mellow but she hadn't become a mom from a television commercial. She was going to yell at her kid, make mistakes and panic over everything. She was also going to show her off to everyone who made the error of pausing to look. 

"I, uh, didn't think they still kept you in so long," Walt said. "Martha stayed in nearly a week, and I don't remember if there was even a reason."

Vic was not going to tell him about her episiotomy. She shrugged, letting the baby nuzzle at her breast through her gown. 

"I think they were worried about my blood pressure," she told him. "But I explained I'm from Philly and that's just my natural energy. We're fine. Ten fingers and toes."

Her silly pride in having a baby with toes made her relax. However odd it was to have her boss and almost something more meet her baby with someone else she also wasn't dating, Vic was happy. She'd wanted Walt to see her daughter. It was normal for a boss to visit an employee on maternity leave. 

"That's good. So you have a little girl?"

"Addison Hope Moretti," Vic rhymed off. "A short, traditional middle name to please my mother, and a modern first name to hopefully keep away bullies. And Moretti because Travis is great, but I'm not going to explain myself every time I go pick up my own kid because we don't have the same name."

She pulled the blankets down from Addie's little face, and made a motion to offer her to him. "Do you want to meet her officially?"

She had expected Walt to fumble a bit, but he was Cady's father. He put his hat down and took her with a smooth motion. His big hands made the round features look like a porcelain doll. When he sat back to rest her against his chest, Vic felt a little pang of sadness. 

Some of her fantasies about motherhood had verged on this inappropriate longing for a different father and a plan to have Addie. It felt terrible to lean on Travis so much while she was mentally replacing him with what another man might say or do. 

But the length of the pregnancy had helped. Walt was keeping his distance, which was only smart for his career. Vic went on leave around seven months, once the stairs to the office started to feel impossible. She'd wanted to stay on longer, but she couldn't go on calls out of the office and there just wasn't enough paperwork to justify keeping her there instead of bringing in a deputy who could provide backup.

Walt was rocking the baby with the barest wrist movement. It looked unconscious, like something he'd learned how to do while dozing with a fussy Cady. He was looking into the baby's face when she woke up long enough to show him blue eyes.

"Don't worry about me," he said softly. "Your mother's right there. I'll give you back soon."

With the instincts that had made Vic run away at the mouth a thousand times, her daughter read the protection freely given and fell asleep. Her little mouth even gaped open and she drooled. 

"Wow, you're like a baby sedative," Vic joked. "I'm going to remember that when she's teething."

Walt looked up fondly. "Don't give me too much credit. She was pretty much out when I got her. How are things with you, other than this pretty girl?"

She'd debated how to introduce Travis to people, and opted to let them do their own guesswork. It would matter more when she was ready to date, but that wouldn't be until she could nail down being a mother and then a working mother. 

"I like where I'm living. I think it will do for a few years. Travis is great with her. He's working hard to be able to help me out with money if I need it. We're not together. It wouldn't be fair when I don't really see it . . . " Vic trailed off. "He had a month or so where he was pretty set on getting married, but I wouldn't do that again without knowing it was for the right reasons. My mom is going to visit soon. I'm looking forward to seeing her."

Walt's nod was even less than his usual bare nod, probably so he didn't disturb the baby.

"How are things at work," she asked.

"A little busy without you, but Cox is doing fine," Walt told her. "I, uh, had offered Eamon a place, but he declined. I think he was looking at a move out of state."

It was the closest he would ever get to asking her about her love life, and Vic summoned her courage to give an answer.

"I think being with me that little while messed with his head too much," she said. "Maybe without Addie it would have been patched up, but he wanted something simpler. I'm not going to have time for dating anytime soon."

Her boss had always been more comfortable when she was safely off the market. Vic was a good cop, and she knew when his guard fell. She had just told Walt she wasn't quite over the might have beens, but she wasn't going to be going to him with prompting questions and her feelings showing. 

Walt leaned in and rested his folded arms with her sleeping daughter on the mattress. "That drool is going to get down her neck and give her a rash," he said. 

Vic leaned in with a tissue, both of them focused on caring for a little girl who didn't know or care the whole world had once spun on how Walt looked at her mother. It was a momentary wish fulfillment, like a waking dream that would dissipate to mist if her mind tried to fix on it. 

"I'll take her back now," she said.

The easy pass of her child into her arms made her feel warm. Walt sat back and then up straighter. "Oh, I almost forgot. We had a card for you at the office. I have no idea what's needed anymore for new babies," he said. "Maybe you can use it for a college fund or something."

The card he pulled out was tied with plain string to a book. Money in a card because he was bad at shopping and a secondhand novel was the most Walt baby gift Vic could have ever imagined. 

She took it and held it on her lap. "Thank you. I'll put it towards her iPhone," she said. 

He looked confused and concerned. Vic shook her head. "I was kidding. Baby cellphones aren't a thing yet, Walt."

He cleared his throat and nodded. "Yes, uh, well, the nurse said you need your rest. We're all only a phone call away if you need something, and Ruby expects to babysit. And you can let me know when you're ready to come back to work. For now, enjoy your time with Addie. She's beautiful, Vic."

They were looking at one another too long, and hearing him say he was waiting for her to come back was addictive. She had a child and a responsibility to live her life instead of wishing for things that didn't seem like safe expectations.

"Thank you, and I will read the book. It might take me a while, but I'll have quiet time at home. Thank you for coming to see us."

He picked up his hat and stood over her, giving off all sorts of noble cowboy reticence. Walt cupped her shoulder and gave her a smile. "I wanted to," he said, and put one fingertip to her baby's tiny shoulder over the blanket. "You be a good girl for your mother."

His hat was on before he was out the door, signifying he was back on the job. Vic was glad she had post-partum hormones to blame when the nurse came in and found her sobbing with a blissfully sleeping baby and a book open in her hands.


End file.
